Fort Wayne Trinity Church Youth
Fort WayneTrinity Presbyterian Youth
9600 St. Joe Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46835
United States
ph: (260) 485-1571
alt: (260)224-9694
jacob
Daily Devotional
July 29, 2010
The mark of Moses? maturity
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us? Psalms 90:15 (NKJV)
Psalm 90 is credited to Moses, and in it he displays a remarkable mark of maturity. He acknowledged that there were certain afflictions that the Lord had ordained for His people. The trials that came their way were divinely ordained, which is a powerful understanding in and of itself.
But look closely at what Moses says in the first part of this passage. He prays, "Make us glad." Let's be honest, if it were us, we probably would have prayed, "Take this away." Our Psalm would have likely read, "Lord, I know you're in control and that these afflictions have come from You. I'm O.K. with that, but please cut it short. Take the trials away."
Moses may have had those thoughts, just as any human would. Yet as the Holy Spirit filled him to pen this Psalm, we see a mark of maturity, a maturity that doesn't seek the quick or easy way out of our trials, but that seeks divine comfort and gladness amidst the afflictions.
There's a big difference between asking God to remove something and asking God to enable you to endure something. We turn a corner in our spiritual growth when we ask less and less for the removal of affliction and ask more and more for a divine endowment to endure the affliction with gladness. Think it through: isn't there's a greater witness to God's power in our gladness amidst affliction than in the total absence of affliction?
Instead of asking for a lighter load, we should ask for a stronger back. And we do that by praying He would make us glad according to the afflictions He ordains.
Make us mature like Moses, God of all joy. Gant us Your great gladness as You help us through the trials You've ordained for us.
Think about it… What does this passage reveal to me about God? What does this passage reveal to me about myself? Based on this, what changes do I need to make? What is my prayer for today?
July 30, 2010
In the corner
You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out? Psalms 88:8 (NKJV)
It's not unheard of for the Lord to take His people and put them in a proverbial corner...to strip them of relationships and associations, to remove them from their friends and families, to isolate them for a certain season.
Just look at Joseph, look at Elijah, look at David, look at Daniel and Jeremiah and Job. At one time or another, most pillars of faith in God's Word went through a time of crying out, "I am shut up, and I cannot get out!" They were put in the proverbial corner, locked down and locked out from the normal course of life.
And it only stands to reason that if God would allow this in their lives, He's going to allow it in ours, as well. But why? Why does the Lord remove so much from us and put us in lonely places for a season? The answer comes in the next verse of this Psalm:
LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You. (Psalms 88:9 NKJV)
It was when the Psalmist was backed into a corner that he stretched out his hands and called out to the Lord daily. Prayer became more passionate and personal when all else was stripped away. Communication was taken to an entirely new level, and the roots of relational intimacy went deeper than ever before.
More than anything else, God wants to cultivate relationship with us. And sometimes, being backed into a corner is the best way to make this happen. It's there that we get tight with God and our faith in Him flourishes.
Divine Disciplinarian, You know what we need and why we need it. Help us to submit to Your purpose, especially when we find ourselves backed into a corner.
Think about it… What does this passage reveal to me about God? What does this passage reveal to me about myself? Based on this, what changes do I need to make? What is my prayer for today?
July 31, 2010
An interesting thread
The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Psalms 87:2 (NKJV)
An interesting thread is woven throughout the scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation, we see that there's a special connection between the heart of God and the City of Jerusalem.
Genesis 22 gives us our first glimpse into this. The setting is God's test towards Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. If you're not familiar, this chapter is buzzing with spiritual significance as it pre-figures God the Father's sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus. The details are absolutely striking, not the least of which is that God tells Abraham to do all of this on a place called Mount Moriah.
Fast forward several centuries and we find out that Mount Moriah is actually a specific spot in the city of Jerusalem. It's where God appeared to David and to where David purchased a special spot of land to be set aside for worshipping God (2 Chronicles 3:1), and it's on this very spot that Solomon eventually built the Temple.
The thread weaves its way into the New Testament as we see the city of Jerusalem playing a critical role in the life of Christ. Jerusalem is not only where God's Son died for our sins (in ultimate fulfillment of Genesis 22) but it's also where He was raised from the dead.
It doesn't stop there, for we're told that when Jesus returns to this earth to restore righteousness, He will rule and reign from Jerusalem, and it will be towards this sacred city that every heart will be turned (Isaiah 2:1-4).
There's an undeniable bond between God's heart and Jerusalem, a bond that will affect all of us in the last days. Truly, the Lord loves the gates of Zion, and so should we.
Lord, we look forward to the day when you rule from Your favored city, Jerusalem. Come quickly King Jesus!
Think about it… What does this passage reveal to me about God? What does this passage reveal to me about myself? Based on this, what changes do I need to make? What is my prayer for today?
Copyright 2010 Fort WayneTrinity Presbyterian Youth. All rights reserved.
Fort WayneTrinity Presbyterian Youth
9600 St. Joe Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46835
United States
ph: (260) 485-1571
alt: (260)224-9694
jacob
